Sheets of thin paper have been used to wrap articles in order to form a covering around the article and to, for example, disguise the article. The wrapping paper, however, does not provide a rigid structure around the article, and provides very little protection to the wrapped article. In addition, the process of wrapping the article with the wrapping paper requires the paper to be cut to size, folded around the gift, and taped or otherwise secured closed. This process is labor intensive, time-consuming, and inefficient. As such use of wrapping paper is expensive and sometimes not even practical when a large number of articles must be wrapped or the wrapping must be accomplished in a short time, as is the case for a gift wrapping department of a store, a store sales clerk, or a gift wrapping booth in a shopping mall during a busy holiday season.
Preassembled box structures and collapsible box structures have been used to wrap and contain articles, particularly when rigidity and protection is desired. Preassembled boxes, however, are fairly expensive and cumbersome when wrapping a large number of articles in a short period of time. In addition, a large number of preassembled boxes requires a substantial amount of storage space, which is often not available in gift wrapping booths or retail sales stores. Collapsible boxes require less storage space than the preassembled boxes, but the collapsible boxes must be assembled by a user before being suitable to contain and protect an article placed therein. The assembly process is labor intensive and time consuming, and is not practical or efficient when high volume gift wrapping is required or the wrapping must be accomplished in a very short time.
To avoid the drawbacks of boxes or wrapping paper, paper and plastic bags, which receive articles through an opened mouth of the bag, have been used to wrap and contain articles. However, bags are limited to receiving articles having a cross-sectional area that will pass through the mouth of the bag, so many different sized bags are needed to accommodate a wide variety of different sized articles. In addition, the bags are not aesthetically pleasing and do not provide a rigid structure around the article and provide very little protection for the articles contained therein.
Accordingly, there is a need for an inexpensive assembly that allows articles to be wrapped and contained within a protective structure quickly. There is also a need for an assembly used to wrap and contain an article which takes up a minimum amount of storage space when stored in inventory, is inexpensive to manufacture, and provides a time efficient wrapping process. The assembly should lend itself for use in displaying on a surface thereof advertising, artwork or other printed material of an interesting nature to the user in a readily visible manner.